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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25062577">Petrichor</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustABetaWriter/pseuds/JustABetaWriter'>JustABetaWriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Detroit Evolution 2020 Artfest [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Octopunk Media's Detroit Evolution</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, DEArtfest, F/F, Human North (Detroit: Become Human), Inspired by Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, Mild Hurt/Comfort, North (Detroit: Become Human) Is Bad at Feelings, Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, Sad Ending, Studying, Tutor Ada</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:28:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25062577</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustABetaWriter/pseuds/JustABetaWriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>(n.)<br/>The distinctive smell that accompanies rain after a long, warm, dry spell.</p><p>Ada doesn't like North, until she does, a little too much.<br/>North doesn't care about Ada, until she pushes her away and it hurts.</p><p>(They really need to learn how to communicate.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ada (Detroit Evolution)/North (Detroit Become Human)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Detroit Evolution 2020 Artfest [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1810930</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Petrichor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Part one of two! Part two will be posted on the 13th, for the Coffee shop AU.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>            Ada was not having a good day. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            The new student she was supposed to tutor, North, had yet to show up to their agreed upon meeting place in the school’s library, and Ada was not looking forward to meeting the person who dared be a half-hour later to their first study session. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            And it was pouring outside. Rain pelting against the study glass, filling the otherwise silent library with the gentle sound of thrashing wind, echoing thunder, and the persistent sound of droplets against windows. She wasn’t afraid of thunderstorms, that would be childish, but she was unnerved by the sudden, however well anticipated, loud booming of the sky after the quick snapshots of lighting in the distance. She was far more disturbed by the gull of her student to dare show up late, than the terror she easily hids, pressing her trembling hands against the reassuring cold of the library table. The library is nearly empty, it’s half past six, and Ada is growing increasingly impatient.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            If this ‘North’ doesn’t show up within the hour, Ada decides she will simply leave, and refuse to accept an offer from ‘North’ again. Surely they didn’t need help this badly if they still hadn’t shown up—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            The front door of the library slams open with the force of a powerful gust of wind, and just as it’s about to close, a hand reaches around and pulls it open again. In steps a figure, wringing out braided hair, and pulling a jacket off to shake the excess moisture into the entrance way. They step further into the light, and Ada’s eyes catch on an indescribable shade of brownish-red, and suddenly they are headed right for her table. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “Are you Ah-dah?” Ada takes a deep breath and opens her mouth to respond, but North just continues on, </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            ”I’d say I’m sorry for being late, but I’m really not.” She says it flippantly and indifferently, like the act of even bothering to apologize is too much sincerity to bear, like her life is so important that she would gladly leave Ada to stew for another hour to do whatever she deems to be more important.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “My name is actually pronounced </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ada</span>
  </em>
  <span> not ‘Ah-duh,’ and—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            North ignores her, sitting down next to Ada, “I need help with this.” She pulls out her books from her thankfully waterproof backpack, and points at notes from last week’s lecture. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            Ada digs her fingers into her fists for a second longer before forcing herself to release them. She can’t antagonize North, especially when she’s already showing a short temper, she doesn’t want to know what North will do if she pushes too much. But, it's fine Ada knows how to deal with difficult people, she’s been doing it most of her life, how much harder could a few study sessions be? It's only until the end of the semester, she can do this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            Their first session continues in a similar fashion as the first few minutes of their first face-to-face interaction, as do the next few meetings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “It’s okay, this is a pretty common mistake—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “Don’t waste my time, just show me how to do it right!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            And with every low grade, misunderstood material, and tense study session, North’s hostility only gets worse. It’s almost to the point where Ada considers for a brief moment, a moment that gets longer each time she thinks about it, to call in sick, or drop North entirely. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            But then something changes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            North suggests a new meeting place, a local coffee shop on the edges of campus, and slowly the arrogant facade and impenetrable defensiveness begin to come down. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            At first Ada thinks it’s because of North’s caffeine addiction, but then she realizes it’s because North doesn’t feel out of her depth here, her grades are slowly increasing too. Ada knows how the atmosphere of a coffee shop does wonders for creativity, but it’s something else entirely to see how North pauses in the middle of an escalating sentence, to stop, take in a deep breath of the freshly baked muffins in the air, and to let her walls down enough to not jump on the defensive with every response.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            It’s a very welcome change, and Ada also finds herself far more willing to engage in the slightly awkward small-talk they indulge in after a study session, whereas before, she would make any excuse to leave as quickly as possible. She begins to look forward to seeing North, counting the hours and days until their next study session, and North begins to look at Ada’s homework too. Quick comments written in blue ink at the bottom of her forgotten essays, evolve into typed outlines, and discussions that give a point of view Ada never thought of before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            Suddenly she finds herself sitting in the coffee-shop across from North, hours after she was supposed to have left, staring into bright brown eyes as North throws her head back and laughs, the gentle flush of pink on her cheeks, and Ada knows she’s doomed. She’s terrified to ruin what they have, and she’s perfectly content with keeping the status quo, so she keeps it to herself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            Then it happens.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            North’s been on edge since the moment she sat down, shoulders held tense as she perches on the edge of her chair, wrapped up in an oversized sweater and a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. She doesn’t even greet Ada as she approaches and sets down her bag, only pulling out a page marked with bright red ink and sliding it across the table.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            It’s North’s final exam for chemistry, graded with an uncaring fifty-two in the top corner. She had never been great in Chemistry, but they had been working so hard, studying every day North had free, preparing for the final semester exam. Only to get a fifty-two.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “North—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “I told you not to patronize me. I’m going to drop out, there’s no point.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “Maybe we can talk to the professor, ask for a rewrite—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “I said, I don’t need your help!!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “Obviously, you do!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            Ada flinches backwards at the sound of her own voice, feeling the harshness of North’s words echo in the nearly empty coffee shop alongside her own, feeling her heart race as time screeches to a halt before she stands, shoving books into her bag with shaking hands, and pushes out the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>             “Ada—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>             But she’s already gone, out into the downpour of an oncoming thunderstorm, and North’s left with a cooling mug, and the sound of the sky falling apart in the distance, Ada's fearful eyes and reflexive flinch replaying in her mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>            “Shit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>             North quickly stuffs everything into her bag, and sprints out the door. She knows Ada doesn't like thunderstorms, and even though North doesn't deserve to be forgiven, she wasn't going to leave Ada, panicked and scared, outside in the storm, alone.</span>
</p>
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